A mischievous little figure once used in TV advertising for the Skála department store is the latest character to be created by Mihajlo Kolodko. The guerrilla sculptor is famed for leaving ironic figurines related to urban myths and legends around Budapest. The Skála Kópé was a cheeky chappie older Hungarians would remember from the 1980s.
A familiar figure on Hungarian TV screens four decades ago, the Skála Kópé is now depicted by Mihajlo Kolodko with his heart on the outside, reference to the catch phrase that the former department store would win over the hearts of shoppers.
Pioneering for its day, the Skála Metró building was unveiled in 1984, a state-of-the-art department store in Socialist Hungary. In its heyday, it would attract 30,000 shoppers through its doors every day. It now houses other retail outlets, at a prime spot right opposite Nyugati station.
The Skála Kópé is the latest in a long line of Kolodko statuettes, others including the cartoon character Süsü and a diver fishing out the key of the New York Café from the Danube.
